China, Malaysia renew currency swap arrangement for 3 years

China and Malaysia have renewed their currency swap arrangement for a further three years, according to a statement on the website of the Malaysian central bank. The swap exchanges 180 billion yuan ($29.04 billion) for 90 billion ringgit ($24.83 billion), according to the report, unchanged from the previous swap arrangement in 2012, which increased the size of the first swap signed in 2009.
"This renewed bilateral currency swap arrangement reinforces the on-going commitment by both central banks in promoting the use of local currencies for payment settlement," said Bank Negara Malaysia in its statement. "The currency swap arrangement will further reinforce the economic and financial linkages as well as promote bilateral trade and investment flows between Malaysia and China." A separate report on China's official Xinhua news service said the agreement was signed by Malaysian central bank head Zeti Akhtar Aziz and his Chinese counterpart Zhou Xiaochuan in the United States.